We are proudly presenting you the new F-102 Delta Dagger 1/72 scale model created by HobbyMaster which is known by now for two things... their great workmanship and on the other hand the preference on aircrafts related to the Hellenic Air Force.

As you can see it represents the F-102 carrying Serial Number 0-60981 which is one of the 20 Convair F-102A Delta Daggers that arrived in Greece in June 1969 together with 5 double-seats TF-102A used for training purposes. The aircraft came to serve the Royal Hellenic Air Force under the "Project Peace Violet" program and coming from Interception USAF Air National Guard Squadrons like: 111st Texas, 118th Connecticut, 122nd Louisiana, 134th Vermont, 152nd Arizona, 175th South Dakota, 199th Hawaii, 102nd New York and finally 194th California. It is worth to mention that with some of the aircrafts coming from Texas Air National Guard the allmighty George Bush jr had completed some of his mission hours.

The F-102 aircrafts arrived painted in the original U.S. gray scheme with the Hellenic Air Force roundels and following the more or less default air route Goose Bay/Newfoundland Canada, Keflavik Island, Lossiemouth Scotland and finally Ramstein W. Germany. In 1973 the aircraft received their two-tone green, tan and gray schemes. These aircraft equipped the 342nd All Weather Squadron "Sparta" placed in 114 Combat Wing Tanagra Air Base. These aircraft had a rather short service length in Greece (about 7 years only) because the F-102’s were replaced by the Mirage F-1CG in 1977. This particular characteristic makes the hellenic F-102 rather rare and this particular model a great subject for your collection!

F-102 Specifications

Role : Supersonic All-Weather, delta wing interceptor

• Crew: 1 pilot
• Number Produced : 889

Dimensions

• Length : 68 ft 4 in (20.83 m)
• Wingspan : 38 ft 1 in (11.61 m)
• Height : 21 ft 2 in (6.45 m)

Weight

• Empty : 19,350 lb (8,777 kg)
• Loaded : 24,500 lb (11,100 kg)
• Maximum Takeoff : 31,500 lb (14,300 kg)

Powerplant : 1 x Pratt & Whitney J57-P-25 afterburning turbojet

• ThrustDry : 11,700 lbf (8,777 kg)
• With Afterburner : 17,200 lbf (76.5 kN)

Fuel

• Internal : 1.085 US gal (4,107 l)
• External : 2 x 215 US gal (815 l) drop tanks

Armament:

• Rockets : 24 x 2.75 in (70 mm) FFAR (Folding Fin Aerial Rocket) unguided rockets in missile bay doors
• Missiles : AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air  &  AIM-26 Falcon with conventional or nuclear warheadMissiles were contained in 3 bays inside the aircraft belly

Avionics : MG-10 fire control system designed by Hughes Aircraft Company

Please take a look at the pictures showing this beauty from all possible angles:

We would like to sincerely thank HobbyMaster for their precious help and support in preparation of present article!!!